tw2_dragonspawnfandomcom-20200213-history
Chapter5
Tower Wars- The Original Story! Chapter Five By Ken Correia on Thursday, December 13, 2012 They emerge from the tower into a land of snow and ice. It is a rough landscape, undulating wildly and it is difficult to see anything of the village yet. The friends make their way through the bare trees heading west towards signs of smoke. They clear the edge of the trees and a small village stands in front of them. Between the village and the trees is a row of snowmen. They walk up to the snowmen laughing about the noses they have, when as one, the snowmen move. Lumps of snow start to fly towards them, as it rises from the floor, forms into balls and flies directly at their heads! They have to fight their way through this onslaught before you can reach the snowmen to stop them. As each snowman falls, he drops a carrot that once formed his nose and the three round these up as you never know what they will need in this place. They have to proceed very carefully now, if the entire landscape is going to be this dangerous they could have problems anywhere! In front of them is a sheet of ice that they must cross to proceed. They attempt to walk across but it is impossible and need to find another way around this but it appears there is not one. The three stand on the edge baffled as to how to progress, this ice seems to stretch the full length of the village and there is no way round. Wandering up and down does not present any viable options to them and they are just considering giving this up for the time being and heading east when Peter spots some small creatures playing on the edge of the ice further down. Upon approaching they discover a family of rabbits skating around. Hero calls out to them. “Hi there! We really need to cross here and cannot find a way to do it. Do any of you have any ideas?” One of the rabbits tells them they can help them but you will have to do them a favour first. They have been short of food and would like some carrots. This is easily accomplished as you have the carrots from the snowmen earlier and they happily exchange these for information. The rabbits explain they can walk on ice so well as they have rough pads on their feet. They tell the trio to strip bark from the trees and attach this to their shoes to make it easier to cross. Using the ends of their swords they all start to winnow off thin strips of bark and using lengths of grass attach these to their shoes. Hero steps out on the ice cautiously and does not slip! The other two take confidence from this and follow him out. Soon all three are crossing the ice slowly but surely. They finally reach the opposite side of the lake and there are another group of rabbits playing. Hero again decides to speak to rabbits as he wants to ask them for directions. As they approach the three sense that there is something wrong, they do not now actually look to be playing but just moving aimlessly. As they get a little closer the rabbits spot them and attack; these are not normal rabbits, but vampire rabbits! They do not pose much of a challenge but it teaches the shocked three a lesson; nothing in this place is necessarily as it seems. First they are attacked by snowmen and now rabbits! As the fight finishes a young girl emerges from the embankment. She looks down on the rabbits, then quickly pulls twigs from a tree, and drives them into their hearts. She tells that there are many animals like this around here after the vampire attacks and suggests that they find some smaller pieces to use as stakes. She asks the travellers why they are here and they tell her about the vampires. She suggests they speak to Timothy in the village as he is their vampire expert. To get into the town they have to walk through the woods. (NOW THIS WAS NEVER PART OF THE STORY BUT WHAT YOU WANTED) 1. Clear a way 2. Talk to Catherine 3. Fight squirrels Head NW 4. Exchange 10 squirrel tails for 1 high level energy potion Head NW 5. Search the tree stumps - 8 available. I contains a treasure chest with money in it. Others contain fights, you know this type of quest. 6. Search for an acorn key amongst the leaves, would suggest low level drop rate. 7. Unlock the tree door 7a. Collect your reward (If the reward is high enough, i.e high level energy recharge or a plus 1 stamina boost say then they will probably repeat stages 6, 7 and 7a many times, I know I would. Head South 8. Fight snow lynx for tooth drop 50% drop rate Head South 9. Fight snow leopard for tooth drop 50% drop rate Head South 10. Fight caribou for tooth drop 50% drop rate Head South 11. Talk to Edward He requires 3 each of the teeth from the guys above to give you information you need 11a. Hand in drops and Edwards tells you there is a hard hitting monster coming up. Now I have no clue what sort of level this lot will be at now so it up to you to decide how high this is. This will relate back to the drop at the start, whatever is required this should fill, it was 500 with the black elixirs if you remember so maybe this is the level you can look at. If they have not got enough then they will go back thereby slowing them down. Head South 12. Rest a while. This should fill up your health and energy and require a fair amount of stamina or money to do it. Head South 13. Snow giant fight. This is the guy that has the hard hitting. Would suggest hit and heal fight. He can be low in energy maybe so this does not go on forever or have low health just be hard hitter. Head West 14. Farming option, lower level fillers, snowdrops maybe Head North West 15. This is the start of a chain. Collect edelweiss Head North 16. Edelweiss needed to fight Wolverine, drops claw Head North 17. Claw needed to fight Ermine, drops pelt. (Sorry to the animals rights brigade, but bolox to em, it soft and fluffy!!! Blame me to Sezzer :D) Head North 18. Pelt required to fight the Arctic Hare, drops Hare foot Head North West 19. Ok, this is where it was leading. You need 5 Hare feet to talk to Miranda who is sitting here patiently waiting. Back the buggers go, lots of back and forth for them to do, again slowing them down. 19a. Hand in the Hare feet. Miranda tells you that you must head south as there is a reward awaiting you at the far south of the woods. Head West 20. Smooth run down so we do not put them all off because it has been real hard work up to now and will be again. Farm for replenishers if needed, health here Head South 21. Energy here Head South 22. Collect twine from the trees, 50% drop rate, 3 to move on Head South 23. Form a lasso Head South 24. Rope a horse. 40% Head South 25. Man here trading the potions you worked so hard for earlier for a horse. Head South 26. Nook's fave the fishing pool. Mid range energy boosters is my suggestion. They can skip this if they wish. Head South East 27. Talk to Lorraine. She tells you that the vampires have been seen in the next village, she thinks it is only a matter of time before they reach this one and urges you to hurry. Head West 28. The way is blocked by a large group of trees, 'find a way around.' Head North 29. It is uphill now and you have to ascend carefully as the ground is packed with ice, don't slip. Maybe this could be done like you did the steps in Feanor tower. Head North 30. You cannot progress any further it is too slippy, so you use the technique you learned from the rabbits. Strip bark from the trees. Head North 31. Ascend with confidence Head North 32. The way is blocked by a snow drift, search for a spade. Head North 33. Dig your way through. Head North 34. You are at the top now, it is a long drop back down. The way is blocked by lemmings, make the first one follow you to safety, apparently the rest will follow! Head North 35. Find a toboggan. 35a. Slide to the bottom. Head North West 36. Search for a new path. This will allow people wanting to return to bypass the hill and go back to the horse catching if they want more potions. Head North West 37. Leave Altay woods They walk into the town proper, following Henrietta. She introduces them to Timothy and he tells them of his experience with the vampires. He has learned that the vampire here has heard of Hero and is awaiting his arrival. He tells Hero that he needs to protect himself more before he reach the vampire. There are many in the town that can help him equip. “Come back and see me when you are ready to leave.” It is very difficult to walk around in this level of snow and while they are trudging slowly up the road a dark speck in the sky can be spotted coming towards the village, as it gets closer Peter exclaims, “It’s Acylla!” The dragon lands in the field and the four become acquainted again before moving to the close by hill so that Acylla can rest there while the others head into town so not to scare people. The human contingent head off in the direction of the noise of a market day and soon come upon several people trying to secure a load of wood on a cart. They walk over and offer help. “Thanks for the offers of help, my name is Malcolm. I have to get this lot to the other side of the village and my horse has gone lame. I don’t suppose you could help me pull it could you?” Thinking that it was always a good idea to get on the right side of people they met in case they needed information or help later the trio agree and start, along with Malcolm to pull the laden wagon. On arrival at the other side of the village they find themself in a small market. People are trading many items here and it would be a good idea to stay and build their armour etc up. Each market trader wants a different item. They bid farewell to Malcolm and go and trade at the many stalls. The three have soon traded for new clothes, and are looking around the market when a cloud comes overhead. Thinking it is Acylla showing off his new talents they are horrified to see several vampires coming this way! People in the market are running for cover and screaming. The three go to hide but see a small child abandoned in the middle of the stalls, and Hero goes to get him instead. As he reach the child the vampires lands. He quickly pushes him to Petronella and tells her to take him to safety. Petronella goes quickly and Hero is left to fight. These are not major vampires but still it is a hard battle as there are so many of them. Hero kills the final vampire and is walking to Petronella when another cloud appears overhead. This is the dragon this time but he is not alone. A crowd of vampires and other evil creatures have him tethered and are dragging him through the skies towards the watchtower. Peter takes aim with his bow and manages to pick off one or two, but they are moving much too quickly. They all watch helplessly as they fly way above the tower and out across Faerie land. One of the arrows found the way into a young vampire, and he is lying writhing on the ground. Peter leans over him holding his stake ready, and demands to know the plans they have for the dragon. The vampire tells him they are taking him into the prairie lands to the east. He kills him anyway. The small band have gained new armoury in this town but have not as yet located the amulet and ask around the market for information. The first person says they do not know but they know that it is buried somewhere as the glow was disturbing; brought them to their knees regularly! The second tells that it lies to the north, in the deepest snow there is. The third tells you that the access to the amulet can only be gained through a cellar in one of the houses. On leaving the market Hero spots a familiar face. It is Hamish the Red and he hurries to speak to him. “Hello again Hero, the vampires are getting stronger. They have heard of you and are calling in help. Please be careful.” Bidding Hamish goodbye, they head off north to the tightly packed houses and begin to search. The dowsing rods are invaluable in this task as they pull Petronella in the correct direction, vibrating strongly when pointed in the correct direction. Upon finding the correct house, they are admitted by a woman who is worried about letting the amulet out. She tells them this amulet has immense strength and it is quite difficult to resist the power of its draw, it mesmerises. They take the risk and descend to the cellar rooms. It is dark in the cellar and they search for a torch to light. The room appears; upon examination they see an area of wall that looks different. The stones are loose and strange in colour. Using a sharp dagger, Hero digs at these stones until they fall out and a passage reaches out of the cellar, low, dark and narrow. They enter the passage, squeezing themselves in carefully, it is very difficult to pass through here and it takes a long time to reach a place they can move freely. They eventually reach a small room that branch off to three sides E, W, N. The way to the amulet is down one the dowsing rods indicate which is blocked but the group decide to explore them all to be sure they have seen and done everything they need to. Down one of the others is an elderly man. “This amulet was one that the others came off. At one point all the amulets were one large one. When you have them all you will need to bring them back together.” They thank him for his help and go down the next passage. The second passage has another man. “To reach the amulet you will have to dig through masses of rock; you must go back to the village and get a pick axe.” The way down the third passage is still blocked and you retreat back to the cellar. As they step into the cellar they become aware they are not alone. The room is filled with evil creatures. The largest one, a Minotaur speaks. “You will not be allowed to continue; this cellar will become your tomb.” Finally, the last creature lies dead, and legs shaking they ascend to the kitchen of the cottage, picking up the health and energy giving items the creatures have dropped upon dying. The owner of the cottage lies dead on the floor, drained of blood. The air is oppressive and they quickly move outside. Here too there are dead bodies, the place is littered. Hero sinks to the floor, this is his fault! As he feels himself begin to crumble, he becomes aware of a presence beside him. Hamish is once more at his side. Hero, this is not your fault; the king would have done this anyway after he took your village. You are the only one that can stop all this.” Taking strength from this, Hero once again rises and goes in search of the pick axe. Upon finding it he once again descends to the cellar, leaving his two companions on guard and starts to wriggle his way back in again. At the wall that bars the way, Hero takes all his anger and channels it into hitting the bricks till they crumble and fall at his fight and then strides through. He emerges into a large room; it glows faintly through the dark. The walls glisten with ice. He starts to make his way to where he believes the source of the light is. He does not get far before the floor starts to move and he is thrown to the ground. Hero watches in amazement as the whole cave becomes alive. Small and large ice creatures appear and stand around him. He draws his sword and prepares to fight but the room starts to talk. All have one voice. They tell of the powers of the amulet. It was once the possession of the Great Wizard Arnhem. He constructed it from the blood of slain vampires and this gives it its power. The king took it from him as he lay dying, having fought once too often. The amulet did not leave easily as it broke on that occasion as well and hid away. The king managed to find the piece in the sword and along with the powers he stole from the wizard has taken control for years now. At first he used those powers for good but in later years his uses were purely evil. The cave becomes quiet and the figures retreat leaving a path open the amulet glowing brighter now. Hero touches it and is at once filled with a feeling the like of which he has never had; it really does bring him to your knees. He can feel the strength lying within it and quickly store it in his bag before it overwhelms him. Shortly, Hero is once again outside with his two companions who report that the village is starting to come back to life, people are coming out of hiding and they cross the village to find them. Crossing the village, Hero feels a new strength. He is ready to leave here now but cannot see an obvious way to go. He has not seen a place the vampire could live and he must vanquish him before you move on. People have started to emerge from hiding now the threat has gone and he asks if they know how to find him. He is told that this vampire lives under the frozen lake and it is here he must go to find him. Again there is no obvious way in and Hero speaks to more people, they tell him he has the ability to transport and this is how he moves. He took two spells from the last vampire, those of thunder and lightning and can use them here. He breaks the ice using the thunder spell and then makes the water move again with the thunder spell. While the water is moving, Hero spots the entrance and before it can be covered again he plunges into the water and swims across to it. He enters the passage and moves on quickly before the water refloods the cave. He becomes aware of the water starting to move again and quickly use the thunder spell again to make rocks fall from the roof and form a barrier. He is now free to explore at will. Again these are ice caves and it is a strange place to be, a bit like a hall of mirrors, he cannot see which way to go and spend a lot of time bumping into walls. He finally finds a passage he can use, but not before several creatures have attacked him. This may look very different to the last vampire lair he was in but Hero can see the similarities. Each passage contains evil creatures that hold pieces of a key, he now knows from experience he is going to need all of these. The key pieces gained, Hero moves to the main chamber but to his great surprise he does not need to open the door to find him, he is standing leaning on the vault door, smirking. Hero does not even give him chance to speak before launching into an attack. He is still furious about the damage that was done to the villagers, the unnecessary death and destruction. It does not take him long to vanquish the vampire and he takes the key that Petronella has assembled while he fought and inserts them into the lock; the sooner they are out of here the better! As the vault door swings shut behind the travellers, they gasp in surprise as in front of them stands yet another vampire! His booming laughter fills the room. “You thought you were finished fighting didn’t you little one? He was just a little diversion I supplied for you while I prepared myself for killing you. I am not as stupid as my recently deceased brothers; I have made the first strike and sapped your energy before you reached me.” Still laughing the vampire starts to move towards Hero, who is truly tired now. He has concentrated all his attention on Hero and this proves to be his downfall. Peter and Petronella have been slowly making their way around him and have drawn their weapons unseen. As the vampire makes to move towards Hero the pair makes their attack. Under this onslaught the vampire makes a brave effort but is struggling to keep up. Hero takes heart from this and rushes to join in, dealing the fatal blow to the vampire. Petronella does the final damage and drives in a stake. The vampire looks up in disbelief at the insignificant humans standing before him. He has never met anyone that fought like this before. As the last drop of life slips from him, he drops the transportation spell. The trio head out through the back door, and head off again in the direction of Faerieville to go and rescue Acylla. The three set off slowly, stopping to rest often on the way and replenish their supplies. Retracing the route they took getting here takes twice as long as they are so tired now. Upon reaching the watch tower the three are really pleased to see the doors are still open and they do not have to fight here again. It does not take them long to cross Faerieville, waving to the creatures they not long since left, being wished well by all they meet. The happy feeling is short lived as they are met with the other watchtower! How could they have forgotten this? Each of the three sides of the land that are accessible in Faerieville has a tower and this is the way they have not gone yet. A pair of faeries are sitting inside waiting so the party pushes on quickly. This tower is a mirror image of the one on the other side between Faerieville and the Land of Ice and snow and the party strides through confidently. It is only a very short time till the Tower Watchman lies dead and the trio wish the Faeries well and step outside.